O'Driscoll benched for Scarlets visit

Brian O'Driscoll, who made his Leinster comeback last weekend, has been left on the bench for tomorrow’s Heineken Cup Pool 5 encounter with the Scarlets in the RDS (6pm).

Fellow international Fergus McFadden will wear the number 13 jersey alongside Gordon D’Arcy in midfield.

Isa Nacewa returns to the team and is named on the wing with Luke Fitzgerald and fullback Rob Kearney completing an experienced back three. Isaac Boss has been given the nod to partner Jonathan Sexton at half back.

Leo Cullen, who celebrated his 35th birthday on Wednesday, leads the province and is paired with Devin Toner at second row.

Sean O'Brien is set to make his 30th European appearance in a back-row which also features Shane Jennings and number eight Jamie Heaslip.

Kevin McLaughlin misses the game with a shoulder knock but is expected to be available for the Round 6 clash away to Exeter Chiefs.

The front row is unchanged from the side which started last weekend's bonus point victory over Edinburgh, so Cian Healy will make his 108th appearance for his home province alongside Sean Cronin and Mike Ross.

O’Driscoll is joined by fellow Ireland internationals Michael Bent, Eoin Reddan and Rhys Ruddock on a menacing replacements bench.

This week the GAA issued guidelines for appropriate and safe training for Gaelic games. We asked to decode those guidelines to find out if they’re an improvement on the old regime, and whether some carry a deeper message.

Cork City and St Patrick’s Athletic packed what felt like a season’s worth of sensation into a remarkable opening night at Richmond Park, the reigning SSE Airtricity League champions — reduced to 10 men when Graham Cummins was sent off in the first half and pegged back to 2-2 after racing into what had seemed like a commanding early lead — finally edging a thrilling encounter late on with a Kieran Sadlier goal scored direct from a corner.

Munster’s planning for a Zebo-less future has solidified with new contracts for Andrew Conway and Stephen Fitzgerald confirmed and a first start of the season for the latter in this evening’s Guinness PRO14 trip to Cardiff Blues.